Posana owners will open two restaurants in downtown’s Arras building

TWO FOR ONE: The Arras, a new mixed-use project planned for the former BB&T building downtown, will feature two independent restaurants, which will be developed by Posana owners Peter and Martha Pollay. Rendering courtesy of McKibbon Hospitality

Details were released this week about two restaurants that will be a part of the Arras, the mixed-use building project planned for the former BB&T building, which borders Pack Square in downtown Asheville. In addition to a 128-room boutique hotel, 54 condominiums and retail space, The Arras will include two independent restaurants to be designed and operated by local restaurateurs Peter and Martha Pollay.

The project’s developers, McKibbon Hospitality hotel company and Tower Associates chairman Glenn W. Wilcox Sr., will partner with the Pollays on planning the restaurants, which should open with the launch of the hotel in 2018. The husband-and-wife team has owned and operated Posana on Pack Square for seven years. Peter, who serves as Posana’s executive chef, served two terms as president of the Asheville Independent Restaurants association and helped Asheville become the Green Restaurant Association’s first certified Greenest Dining Destination in the country in 2012.

NEW VENTURES: Peter and Martha Pollay are developing two restaurants for downtown’s new Arras mixed-use project. Photo courtesy of McKibbon Hospitality

Posana offers an entirely gluten-free menu, sourcing ingredients from about 65 local food businesses and farmers, as well as from the restaurant’s urban garden plot in West Asheville. The planned restaurants in The Arras promise to have an emphasis on local, seasonal and sustainable food as well.

The Mandara Hospitality Group, a new hospitality division launched by the Pollays as part of their business expansion, will manage the two hotel eateries. Peter says the restaurant in the northeast corner of the building will provide a fine-dining experience that blends global food cultures. “Martha and I love to travel, and I always take inspiration from different cuisines,” Peter says. “Mediterranean cuisine will be our focus, but you may see the influence from our time in Asia in some dishes.”

That restaurant will feature an open kitchen and will serve large, sharable dishes such as fish plates and pasta to create a sense of community among diners. It will also offer an outdoor dining area with access to Pack Square. Details on the second restaurant are still sketchy, but Peter says it will have more of a casual, bar atmosphere. Neither of the restaurants will be entirely gluten-free like Posana, but Peter assures that they will feature gluten-free menu options.

The Pollays are also collaborating on another upcoming McKibbon project — the AC Hotel Asheville Downtown, a division of Marriott, which will open in late 2016 at the corner of Biltmore Avenue and College Street. The ninth floor of the hotel will have a rooftop restaurant and bar called Capella on 9, where the Pollays will train all food and beverage staff and serve as consultants for menus and catering.

Capella on 9 will offer cocktails, wine and beer, European-style tapas and other small plate menu items. The initiative marks the first time that an AC Hotel will consult with local restaurant owners, which McKibbon hospitality chairman John McKibbon says falls into his mission of incorporating Asheville’s surrounding local culture into the new hotels. “We plan to continue to keep the community at the center of everything we do,” he says.

As an example of this commitment, McKibbon Hospitality and 7 Ton Design, the graphic designer for the project, will donate $6,000 to Mountain Housing Opportunities. The nonprofit organization provides affordable housing for low- to moderate-income households in Asheville and surrounding counties.

Peter Pollay will be executive chef of the restaurants at Arras, and Martha will serve as creative director. “The old BB&T building is such an iconic space in downtown Asheville, and we are eager to bring these new restaurants to both locals and visitors alike,” Peter says. “I am confident that the menus will showcase the outstanding foods that are available in Western North Carolina.”

About Eliza Stokes

Eliza Stokes holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and Global Studies from Warren Wilson College. She received the 2016 Larry Levis Award for outstanding manuscript on behalf of the Warren Wilson MFA Program and has read for the Juniper Bends Reading Series. Eliza is a freelance writer and editor based in Asheville.

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

12 thoughts on “Posana owners will open two restaurants in downtown’s Arras building”

community-check
green-check
gluten free-check
sustainable-check
you left out synergy, by the way.

No, I’m not some neocon righty hater by any means, but I am pointing out a new agey
(except when money is involved, then it’s Adam Smith all the way) business model that so far
has a ‘flavor’ that insults my intelligence.

Well darn, I guess we’ll never be business partners then. God and Boat had such a nice ring to it.
I had a business plan all set for crowdfunding- luxury high rise condos built of LEGOs, so they could easily be changed for every tourists’ whim.

“Too bad they don’t fund it.” – If tourist will be staying at the property then they are funding it. It’s a legitimate business that will make money if successful. Also, the contribution to the local housing fund is a good thing. Again made possible by tourist dollars.

Ah, you mean when outta town noveau riche yuppies did not rule the roost and it was considered
a bad idea to over develop and gentrify every square foot of down town.
Understood. Let them eat artisan cake.

The vacuousness of Asheville’s storefronts has been replaced IMO by the vacuousness of the new elite. Asheville’s character has traditionally been it’s people (with the added spice of it’s architecture and the mountains.) Poor, but rich in character. I would say the converse is largely true now.